1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to an access apparatus and, more particularly, to an access apparatus that includes an integral zero-closure valve and check valve for an insufflation port.
2. Description of Related Art
In laparoscopic procedures, clinicians perform surgery in the interior of the abdomen through a small incision, and in endoscopic procedures, clinicians conduct surgery in any hollow viscus of the body through a narrow tube or cannula inserted through a small entrance incision in the skin. In certain instances, one or more insufflation ports are operably associated with the narrow tube or cannula and are configured to provide a pressurized gas, e.g., CO2, into the abdomen after the narrow tube or cannula is inserted into the incision and secured to a patient, thus creating a pneumoperitoneum. The gas provides a positive pressure that raises the inner body wall away from internal organs, thereby providing the surgeon with an operating space. By creating the operating space, the clinician avoids unnecessarily contacting the organs with the instruments inserted through the cannula assembly.
Typically, the one or more insufflation ports include one or more components, such as, for example, intricate manual valves, caps, stopcocks, external tubes and the like, that are configured to maintain the pneumoperitoneum and control for insufflation gas flow. As can be appreciated, the aforementioned components, e.g., intricate valves, increase the cost of manufacture of the insufflation port and/or access apparatus.
Accordingly, it may prove advantageous to provide an access apparatus that includes an easy to manufacture component that is configured to maintain the pneumoperitoneum and control for insufflation gas flow.